Maternity leave?

KVGiovanelli · December 2013

I am trying to get a better understanding for maternity leave and pay. I want to take the longest time off with pay possible, to bond with baby. As a first time Mom, I want to be sure I do things the right way and can still pay the bills. Feel free to share your experiences good and bad with paid leave..

24karat · December 2013

I would recommend talking to your HR department. Many jobs do not have paid maternity leave options and those that do usually cover it with a short term disability policy, which is something that you need in place before getting pregnant. You need to find out what (if anything) your employer offers and make your plans accordingly. For example, for both my pregnancies I was able to take up to 3 months unpaid leave. My employer was not legally required to hold my job (we don't qualify for FMLA, which is also unpaid leave) but she was nice and did so anyway.

KVGiovanelli · December 2013

Thank you, I will be getting in touch with my leave team, I know we are offered FLA, I wasn't sure if you could get paid with FLA with FLI..I guess everywhere is different, I will just have to wait to speak to the leave team. I guess I was looking for a heads up or see what to expect.

Calla123 · December 2013

Definitely check with hr. everyone is different....for example I have one year. 4 months at full top up pay and then 8 months on employment insurance (EI). With my work I could extend that for an additional year of parental leave but I would be unpaid.

jnnfrrose6 · December 2013

Officially, you do not get paid with FMLA. It simply requires a business of a certain size to have the same or a comparable position available to you after 12 weeks. That is why many companies will pay through STD, though that only covers a portion of your pay and a portion of the time away because it has to be signed off by a doctor's note (usually 6 weeks for vaginal birth and 8 weeks for c-section). Of course STD can change if you get put on bedrest as well, but that's the average.

My company did not have an official maternity leave last time I was pregnant, just the basic FMLA policy. I reviewed what the options were and spoke to my boss about it. They were open to revising their policy, as it has become a way for companies to promote their business (look at the great benefits we offer, even paid maternity leave!). Ultimately, the policy was updated to pay the difference of STD for 6 weeks, so my STD pays me 60% while on it, and the company will pay me the remaining 40% for 6 weeks only. Not the greatest, but better than nothing.

Last time around, and this time as well, we made a point to put a portion of my paycheck directly into a savings account through the duration of my pregnancy (we usually do this anyway, but we upped the amount during these months). This helped us put away a little extra so that in the time I wasn't getting a paycheck we had some funds set aside solely to help cover our regular monthly bills that my paycheck usually helped with month to month. It had us living a little tighter during my pregnancy, but it made it less stressful to have to worry about money once the baby was home and I wasn't back to work yet.

IveGotWhateverItIs · December 2013

My company doesn't have any maternity leave. I get 12 weeks of FMLA unpaid. If I have vacation or sick time on the books that I have accrued I can use that while I'm out and get paid for that. As a STM and a DH that works all the time I'm usually the one that stays home with a sick DD so my leave isn't banking enough to get me paid while I'm out. My backup is a STD policy that I purchased. It will pay me 60% of my salary for 6 or 8 weeks depending on the route the baby takes and additional $ for every day I'm admitted to the hospital. As PP mentioned you have to have that in place before you get pregnant. If you don't its really up to your company and what they offer. I hope yours is better than most because it sounds like you are playing catch up if you are already pregnant. Good luck!

IrishTraveler · December 2013

My company offers 12 weeks of maternity leave at full pay. I can take another four weeks of leave at partial pay. It's an unusual policy though, so definitely check with HR.

softservecity · January 2014

Paid or unpaid make sure to be clear with your boss/management. One of my coworkers stated that she planned on taking the 12 weeks FMLA allowed and was told that legally they had to offer that time but that professionally mothers were expected back at 6 weeks if there weren't any complications. Be willing to fight for your rights if needed!

erbear · January 2014

It varies from job to job. I got 6 weeks paid and could take FMLA and unpaid leave for a whole school year, had I wanted.

Luna C · January 2014

softservecity said:

Paid or unpaid make sure to be clear with your boss/management. One of my coworkers stated that she planned on taking the 12 weeks FMLA allowed and was told that legally they had to offer that time but that professionally mothers were expected back at 6 weeks if there weren't any complications. Be willing to fight for your rights if needed!

That's really borderline illegal. I hope your friend didn't let them bully her.

softservecity · January 2014

Luna C said:

softservecity said:

Paid or unpaid make sure to be clear with your boss/management. One of my coworkers stated that she planned on taking the 12 weeks FMLA allowed and was told that legally they had to offer that time but that professionally mothers were expected back at 6 weeks if there weren't any complications. Be willing to fight for your rights if needed!

That's really borderline illegal. I hope your friend didn't let them bully her.

No she didn't! If there had been more said I'd have recommended contacting a legal rep.

awc1986 · January 2014

My job doesn't pay maternity but here in the UK, the government pays 90% of your salary for 6 weeks, then £125 ($170) a week for 26 weeks. I'm planning on taking a week's paid holiday at 37 weeks, then starting my mat leave at 38 weeks. That way I get my 90% pay for a bit longer. I plan to go back when LO is about 4-5 months, but will return part time and work from home half the time.

Whatever you do, make sure it's clear, written and signed. You want it to be watertight!

Cosmolove · January 2014

My job does not offer paid maternity leave and I will be just under the year with the company to even qualify for any maternity leave.

I've already talked to my manager about taking vacation around when the baby is born.

ShanJohnNC · January 2014

jnnfrrose6 said:

Officially, you do not get paid with FMLA. It simply requires a business of a certain size to have the same or a comparable position available to you after 12 weeks. That is why many companies will pay through STD, though that only covers a portion of your pay and a portion of the time away because it has to be signed off by a doctor's note (usually 6 weeks for vaginal birth and 8 weeks for c-section). Of course STD can change if you get put on bedrest as well, but that's the average.

My company did not have an official maternity leave last time I was pregnant, just the basic FMLA policy. I reviewed what the options were and spoke to my boss about it. They were open to revising their policy, as it has become a way for companies to promote their business (look at the great benefits we offer, even paid maternity leave!). Ultimately, the policy was updated to pay the difference of STD for 6 weeks, so my STD pays me 60% while on it, and the company will pay me the remaining 40% for 6 weeks only. Not the greatest, but better than nothing.

Last time around, and this time as well, we made a point to put a portion of my paycheck directly into a savings account through the duration of my pregnancy (we usually do this anyway, but we upped the amount during these months). This helped us put away a little extra so that in the time I wasn't getting a paycheck we had some funds set aside solely to help cover our regular monthly bills that my paycheck usually helped with month to month. It had us living a little tighter during my pregnancy, but it made it less stressful to have to worry about money once the baby was home and I wasn't back to work yet.

Thanks for your input. Will help me hopefully negotiate something during my leave (pay in addition to STD perhaps).

mamabird19 · January 2014

I have a friend that went on STD for maternity leave but they have a policy that you HAVE to come back to work afterwards and pay it off. So if you decided to leave your job after the baby was born and hadn't been back long enough you would have to pay the difference. Has anyone else heard of this? This seems crazy to me but I guess most insurance companies are a bit crazy...

LEIGHLOVE09 · January 2014

It varies like others said. I'll tell you how mine works...I got 6 weeks paid/6 weeks unpaid. If I had a csection it would be 8 weeks paid/4 unpaid.

curlylocks3 · January 2014

mamabird19 said:

I have a friend that went on STD for maternity leave but they have a policy that you HAVE to come back to work afterwards and pay it off. So if you decided to leave your job after the baby was born and hadn't been back long enough you would have to pay the difference. Has anyone else heard of this? This seems crazy to me but I guess most insurance companies are a bit crazy...

Thats how mine is as well.

ASmallWonder · January 2014

OP - there's rarely room to "negotiate" unless you're at a small place that doesn't have an official policy. They'll tell you what they offer and you'll take it. The only thing you might be able to negotiate is additional UNPAID time but know that once you exceed your presumed 12 weeks of FMLA, anything else they say you can take is at their discretion and doesn't guarantee your job at all.

BeesKnees181 · January 2014

Definitely be clear on your rights before you talk to your boss. Mine told me I was allowed 6 weeks; I had to correct him that it is actually 12 weeks under FMLA and according to the company leave policy. I also looked up the company policy online before talking to my boss, so I knew where he stood in the process. Basically, he would have to approve anything over 12 weeks. I have also been told numerous times: "Well, 12 weeks is a lot of time off, don't you think you will want to come back to work before then?" My reply, "I do not know what I will want after having the babies. So, we will have to wait and see." As of now, I know i can take right around 12 weeks with pay (using my leave), and anything after that will be unpaid. I do not think I can afford much time off of work unpaid, though. I have already suggested that they bring in extra help to cover my portion of work while I am away on maternity leave. Thankfully, they are and that has taken a great deal of pressure off of me, since summer months are our busiest time of the year.

As an aside, I am hoping to be able to bring the LO's into the office up through 6 months (also a company policy), but requires supervisor approval. So, I am playing nice

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